The economic stimulus payments – which qualify more or less as “free money” from the government – pushed the federal budget deficit to an all-time high of $165.9 billion in May.
The increase in the deficit includes $48 billion already paid out of the $168 billion planned payments for the economic stimulus plan.
Receipts for the first eight months of fiscal year have totaled $1.67 trillion, representing a mere 0.3% increase from the same period a year ago. Expenditures, however, are up 9.7% to $1.99 trillion; the spike is largely a combination of the economic stimulus payments and the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The resulting $319.4 billion deficit is more than twice the $148.5 billion deficit for the same period in 2007.
Grave economic news, for sure. And we still have $120 billion in stimulus payments to go…
Just another quick fix at the expense of the long term health of our country. Our government and citizens have lived beyond their means for decades, is it any surprise that the US dollar is falling like a rock?
Its like duct taping the front bumper back onto a rust bucket. It will get you down the road a few more miles but it will fall back off and you will run over it.